KR20160139065A - Techniques for affecting a wireless signal-based positioning capability of a mobile device based on one or more onboard sensors - Google Patents

Abstract

For example, one or more inferences may be calculated from signals generated by one or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors, and an error condition may be detected in response to a comparison of the calculated inference (s) and the initial position or position fix, In response to the detection of an error condition, a variety of methods, devices, and / or articles of manufacture are provided that can be implemented to effect at least one process at a mobile device that is at least partially used to obtain a position fix .

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to techniques that affect the wireless signal-based positioning capability of a mobile device based on one or more on-board sensors. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 1 > BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 549,539, filed October 20, 2011, and U.S. Patent Application No. 13 / 622,818, filed September 19, 2012, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This is a PCT application claiming priority.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to electronic devices, and more particularly to methods, devices, and articles of manufacture for use in a mobile device having one or more onboard sensors and wireless signal-based positioning capabilities.

Satellite Positioning Systems (SPS), such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), etc., allow SPS receivers on mobile devices to process position estimates for mobile devices by processing signals ("SPS signals") received from transmitters on- . The position estimate generated by the SPS receiver may be referred to as a position fix. Typically, the SPS receiver will capture SPS signals from four or more satellites of the SPS to produce a position fix. The SPS receiver may use these SPS signals to estimate the distances to four or more satellites (i.e., pseudoranges). The pseudoranges may then be used in conjunction with knowledge of the positions of the satellites to create a position fix for the mobile device.

When position fix is required, the SPS receiver of the mobile device can perform the search of the SPS signals received from the universe. If the SPS receiver does not have knowledge of the current position of the SPS receiver, or of the current position of the SPS's satellites, then this search can be used to perform a full sky scan (which here is a search from a cold start) , Which may be a very complex process. Due to its complexity, attempts to discover and capture satellites from a cold start can consume considerable energy and thus reduce battery life for mobile devices with SPS receivers. Additionally, in mobile devices with limited processing power, the search for SPS signals from a cold start can be very time consuming and thus delay the generation of position fixes. Position fixes that are not timed or delayed can negatively impact applications that rely on position knowledge.

In some systems, ancillary data may be used by the SPS receiver to reduce the complexity of the search for SPS signals. If ancillary data is used, the position fix can be achieved more quickly and with less power consumption. By reducing power consumption, battery life can be prolonged. The assistance data may include, for example, a rough estimate of the current location of the mobile device, an estimate of the SPS time, doppler search window information, ephemeris and / or regression data, as well as other types of information. Such ancillary data may be obtained, for example, from a variety of sources including a remote location server accessible via a wireless communication network, a wireless base station or access point associated with the wireless communication network, information stored within the mobile device itself, and / .

While ancillary data can allow position fixes to be obtained more quickly and with less energy consumption, occasional ancillary data can be inaccurate or in error. As will be appreciated, the use of ancillary ancillary data can negatively impact the accuracy of the resulting position fix. It is also often difficult to determine the accuracy of the assistance data before it is used. Thus, any resulting errors in the position fix may not be detected until one or more position-based applications using the position fix data malfunction.

According to certain aspects, the mobile device comprises: determining a first positioning parameter based at least in part on a wireless positioning signal received by the mobile device; Determining a second positioning parameter based at least in part on a signal generated by a sensor of the mobile device; And effecting an indication of uncertainty regarding at least a first positioning parameter based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter.

In accordance with certain other aspects, an apparatus for use in a mobile device may be provided. In this disclosure, for example, an apparatus includes: means for determining a first positioning parameter based at least in part on a wireless positioning signal received by a mobile device; Means for determining a second positioning parameter based at least in part on a signal generated by a sensor of the mobile device; And means for influencing an indication of at least a first positioning parameter of uncertainty based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter.

According to yet another aspect, a communication interface; sensor; And determining a first positioning parameter based at least in part on a wireless positioning signal received by the communication interface; Determine a second positioning parameter based at least in part on the signal generated by the sensor; And a mobile device comprising at least one processing unit that affects an indication of at least a first positioning parameter of uncertainty based at least in part on a first positioning parameter and a second positioning parameter.

Determining a first positioning parameter based at least in part on a wireless positioning signal received by the mobile device, in accordance with other aspects; Determine a second positioning parameter based at least in part on the signal generated by the sensor of the mobile device; And wherein the computer-executable instructions executable by the one or more processing units of the mobile device to influence an indication of at least a first positioning parameter uncertainty based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter, An article of manufacture may be provided that includes a temporary computer-readable medium.

According to yet another aspect, a mobile device includes: computing one or more inferences from signals generated by one or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors; Detecting an error condition in response to a comparison of the one or more calculated inferences with the initial position or position fix; And effecting a process in the mobile device used to obtain the position fix in response to detecting the error condition.

In accordance with certain other aspects, an apparatus for use in a mobile device may be provided. In this application, for example, an apparatus comprises: means for calculating one or more inferences from signals generated by one or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors; Means for detecting an error condition in response to a comparison of the calculated one or more inferences with an initial position or position fix; And means for affecting the process at the mobile device used to obtain the position fix in response to detecting the error condition.

According to yet another aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: one or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors; And one or more inferences from signals generated by one or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors; Detecting an error condition in response to a comparison of the calculated one or more speculations with an initial position or position fix; And in response to detecting the error condition, a mobile device may be provided that includes one or more processing units that affect the process at the mobile device used to obtain the position fix.

Computing one or more inferences from signals generated by one or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors on the mobile device, according to yet another aspect; Detecting an error condition in response to the comparison of the calculated at least one speculation and the initial position or position fix; And a non-transient computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions executable by the one or more processing units of the mobile device to effect a process at a mobile device used to obtain a position fix in response to detecting an error condition An article of manufacture may be provided that includes a medium.

Non-limiting, non-exclusive aspects are described with reference to the following Figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified.
1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary environment including a mobile device, in accordance with an exemplary implementation;
2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating certain aspects of an exemplary computing platform in a mobile device, in accordance with an exemplary implementation;
3 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process that may be implemented in a computing platform of a mobile device, in accordance with an exemplary implementation.
4 is a flow diagram illustrating another exemplary process that may be implemented in a computing platform of a mobile device, in accordance with an exemplary implementation.

As illustrated by the examples herein, the various methods, devices, and articles of manufacture may be implemented in a mobile device having at least one wireless signal-based positioning capability and one or more onboard sensors.

The underlying techniques provided by the examples herein may be applied to a mobile device provided with a wireless signal-based positioning capability (e.g., one or more processes, circuits, etc.) (S), environmental sensor (s), etc.), which may be obtained using additional information.

By way of example, a mobile device may be provided with a wireless signal-based positioning capability for determining and / or using one or more positioning parameters associated with one or more wireless positioning signals when received from one or more transmitting devices . For example, the wireless signal-based positioning capability may be determined based on, for example, one or more pseudoranges, one or more pseudorange rates, an estimated speed, an estimated heading, an estimated elevation / One or more positioning parameters, such as estimated position coordinates and / or the like, or some combination thereof, may be generated and / or used to estimate the position of the mobile device.

Unfortunately, under certain conditions, one or more of the positioning parameters that may be generated and / or otherwise used by the wireless signal-based positioning capability may include one or more errors, or may include at least partially , Which may be quite sufficient to reduce the efficiency and / or reliability of some or all of the position fix and / or other estimated positioning information about the mobile device. For example, errors in the pseudorange from the transmitting device and the mobile device may make the position fix or other positioning information unreliable. For example, an error in the estimated speed and / or estimated heading may make the position fix and / or other positioning information unreliable.

The techniques provided herein may be implemented, for example, to cause the mobile device to further consider one or more other positioning parameters associated with the mobile device but obtained using one or more onboard sensors. Thus, as described in greater detail herein, under certain conditions, one or more sensor-based positioning parameters, possibly with one or more wireless signal-based positioning parameters, may be associated with one or more sensor-based positioning parameters May be considered to affect the indication of uncertainty with respect to the mobile device and / or the indication of the position uncertainty with respect to the mobile device.

For example, in certain implementations, a mobile device may be configured to receive a first positioning parameter (e.g., based at least in part on a wireless positioning signal received by a mobile device) and a second positioning parameter And based on at least in part the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter, affecting an indication of at least uncertainty with respect to the first positioning parameter. Here, for example, when the first positioning parameter specifies an estimated speed of 5.0 km / h and the second positioning parameter specifies an estimated speed measurement of 4.7 km / h, in certain cases, at least the first positioning The indication of the uncertainty with respect to the parameter may be influenced (if necessary) to indicate a relatively low level of uncertainty because the difference between these compared values is within an acceptable threshold level or range (e.g., km / h, and / or some applicable percentage-based threshold, etc.). Conversely, if, for example, the first positioning parameter specifies an estimated speed of 100 km / h and the second positioning parameter specifies an estimated measurement of 4.7 km / h, then in certain cases at least the first positioning The indication of the uncertainty with respect to the parameter may be influenced (if necessary) to indicate a relatively high level of uncertainty, since such difference between these compared values clearly shows an exemplary acceptable threshold of +/- 0.5 km / h Level or range and / or some applicable percentage-based threshold. Of course, as with all examples provided herein, these are merely some illustrative examples that are not intended to limit the claimed subject matter.

In certain additional exemplary embodiments, such a mobile device may be configured to estimate a position (e.g., position fix) of the mobile device based at least in part on, for example, a first positioning parameter, And may affect the display of position uncertainty with respect to the estimated position of the mobile device on a partial basis. Thus, for example, the radio signal-based positioning capability may be affected based at least in part on an indication of uncertainty with respect to at least a first positioning parameter and / or an indication of position uncertainty with respect to the mobile device.

In certain exemplary implementations, affecting the indication of uncertainty may include, for example, determining the difference value based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter, and determining, for example, May further include affecting an indication of uncertainty based at least in part on a comparison of the difference value and the threshold value, as illustrated in FIG.

In certain exemplary implementations, the first positioning parameter includes at least an estimated pseudorange from the transmitter to the mobile device of a wireless positioning signal (e.g., a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) signal, a ground-based positioning system signal, It can be based in part. For example, in certain implementations, the first positioning parameters may include, or at least partially based on, the mobile device's estimated speed, pseudorange rate, etc., or some combination thereof.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the second positioning parameter may be based, at least in part, on the estimated speed measurement and / or some other similar measurement of the mobile device determined based on the one or more signals from the one or more sensors. For example, in certain implementations, the estimated rate can be deduced from the measurements and / or absence of measurements sensed as a result of acceleration / deceleration experienced by the mobile device (e.g., in some manner during a time period Integrated or otherwise processed, etc.).

In certain exemplary implementations, the mobile device may determine a motion mode that may correspond to absence of motion and / or motion of the mobile device within the environment based, at least in part, on one or more inertial and / or environmental sensor measurements. For example, the motion mode may indicate that the mobile device appears to remain fixed for a period of time, e.g., due to the absence of detected motions. At other times, the motion mode may be carried by a person, such as walking, running, etc., due to detected movements, for example, the mobile device may be characterized as, for example, strides or gaiters Can be displayed. For example, the motion mode may indicate that the mobile device may be boarded on a moving vehicle, aircraft, elevator, escalator, etc., due to, for example, certain specified movements, elevation / altitude changes, . Thus, in certain exemplary implementations, the second positioning parameter may be based at least in part on the motion mode of the mobile device, and the motion mode may be based on one or more signals obtained from one or more sensors. Various capabilities, such as pedometer capabilities that can be implemented to characterize the motion mode, are known and beyond the scope of the present disclosure.

In accordance with certain other aspects, an exemplary mobile device may include one or more inerts (e.g., one or more positioning parameters, etc.) from one or more inertial sensors and / or one or more signals generated by one or more environmental sensors, Can be calculated. Such a mobile device may additionally detect an error condition in response to, for example, a comparison of the initial position and / or position fix with the calculated one or more inferences, and in response to detecting the error condition, The process can be restarted at the mobile device to obtain a fix. In certain implementations, the initial position may be obtained, for example, using ancillary data that may be obtained from one or more other devices and / or obtained from one or more other devices. In certain implementations, the mobile device may obtain some or all of the position fixes based at least in part on acquisition of a plurality of wireless positioning signals at the mobile device. In certain implementations, the mobile device may obtain some or all of the position fixes using, for example, ephemeris information, regulatory information, etc., or some combination thereof. In certain exemplary implementations, restarting the process at the mobile device to obtain a position fix may further include initiating a full sky scan or the like to capture one or more wireless positioning signals.

In certain implementations, upon detection of an error condition, the mobile device may determine, for example, by a pseudorange rate based at least in part on the captured wireless positioning signal (e.g., an SPS signal, etc.) And compare the inferred speeds from the processing of the one or more generated signals. In certain implementations, upon detection of an error condition, the mobile device may compare the reasoning computed from the processing of one or more signals from the environmental sensor, for example, with an initial position or position fix.

Now, in accordance with an exemplary implementation, attention is directed to FIG. 1, which is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary environment 100 that includes a mobile device 104.

As shown, the mobile device 104 includes an apparatus 110 for providing or otherwise supporting mobile device positioning based, at least in part, on one or more of the techniques provided herein. The device 110 may communicate directly with one or more computing devices 130, for example, via one or more network (s) 120, and / One or more computing platforms. For example, as shown, the device 110 may occasionally communicate with one or more computing device (s) 120 via the wireless communication link 122 and the wired communication link 132 via the network 130). It should be appreciated that although communication link 122 is illustrated as a wireless communication link and communication link 132 is illustrated as a wired communication link, any of these communication links may include wired and / or wireless communication links.

The network (s) 120 may include one or more communication systems and / or data having various interconnected devices that support communication between the various electronic devices, such as the mobile device 104 and the one or more computing devices 130 Networks. For example, communication between the computing device 130 and the mobile device 104 may cause certain data and / or instructions to be exchanged between the computing device 130 and the mobile device 104. For example, in certain instances, ancillary data may be obtained by the mobile device 104 from one or more computing devices 130. It should be noted that, in certain implementations, one or more computing devices 130 may be provided within one or more network (s)

As used herein, a "mobile device" may refer to any electronic device that can be moved up or down by a user directly or indirectly within the environment 100. As noted, in certain embodiments, the mobile device 104 may communicate with one or more computing device (s) 130, and / or other similar resources that may be provided within the network (s) 120 Can be. Here, for example, the mobile device 104 may take the form of a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, or the like. In certain other implementations, the mobile device 104 may be able to receive wireless signals, e.g., wireless positioning signals, although it may not transmit or otherwise transmit wireless signals to other devices . Here, for example, the mobile device 104 may take the form of a navigation device or the like.

Exemplary environment 100 further includes one or more satellite positioning system (s) (SPS) 150 capable of transmitting one or more wireless positioning signals, e.g., SPS signals 152, to mobile device 104 . SPS 150 may represent, for example, one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), one or more area navigation satellite systems, etc., or some combination thereof. Additionally, one or more terrestrial-based positioning systems may include one or more wireless positioning signals, for example, an exemplary transmitting device (e.g., an antenna), which may transmit wireless positioning signals 142, some or all of which may be used for signal- (S) 140, as shown in FIG. Thus, for example, the transmitting device (s) 140 may represent a wireless access point, a base station, a repeater, a dedicated beacon transmission device with known positions, only some examples. SPS signals 152 and / or wireless signals 142 are sometimes captured by mobile device 104 and may be used to estimate the position of mobile device 104.

2, which is a schematic block diagram illustrating certain features of an exemplary computing platform 200 in a mobile device 104 for providing mobile device positioning or otherwise supporting mobile device positioning, according to an exemplary implementation. It is noted.

As illustrated, the computing platform 200 may include data (e. G., Based on the techniques and / or device 110 provided herein) coupled to the memory 204 via one or more connections 26 And may include one or more processing units 202 for performing the processing. The processing unit (s) 202 may be implemented in, for example, hardware or a combination of hardware and software. The processing unit (s) 202 may represent one or more circuits that are configurable to perform at least a portion of a data computing procedure or process. By way of example, and not limitation, a processing unit may include one or more processors, controllers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, application specific integrated circuits, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, field programmable gate arrays, And any combination of these.

Memory 204 may represent any data storage mechanism. The memory 204 may include, for example, a primary memory 204-1 and / or a secondary memory 204-2. The primary memory 204-1 may include, for example, a random access memory, a read only memory, and the like. Although illustrated as being separate from the processing units in this example, some or all of the primary memory may be provided within the processing unit (s) 202 or other similar circuitry within the mobile device 104, Lt; / RTI > can be coupled. For example, the secondary memory 204-2 may be coupled to a primary memory and / or one or more data storage devices or systems, such as, for example, a disk drive, an optical disk drive, a tape drive, May include the same or similar type of memory.

In certain implementations, the secondary memory may be configurable to operatively receive or otherwise couple the non-transitory computer readable medium 270 to the non-transitory computer readable medium 270. The memory 204 and / or the non-transitory computer readable medium 270 may be, for example, provided with the techniques and / or the exemplary device 110 (FIG. 1) and / or one or more May include instructions 272 associated with data processing, in accordance with exemplary processes 300 (Figure 3) and / or 400 (Figure 4).

The computing platform 200 may further include, for example, one or more communication interface (s) 208. The communication interface (s) 208 may be, for example, a network (s) 120, a computing device (s) 130 (e.g., ), One or more transmission devices 140, and / or one or more SPS 150 (FIG. 1). As illustrated herein, communication interface (s) 208 may include, for example, one or more receivers 210, one or more transmitters 212, one or more SPS receivers 218, etc., Combinations thereof. The communication interface (s) 208 may implement one or more communication protocols as may be required to support one or more wired and / or wireless communication links. The communication interface (s) 208 may include, in certain exemplary cases, one or more (e.g., one or more) communication devices capable of capturing wireless positioning signals 142 from one or more transmission devices 140 associated with one or more terrestrial- Receivers. In certain instances, communication interface 208 may also transmit wireless signals via one or more transmitters 212 to one or more transmitting devices 140, such as, for example, as part of a round trip time evaluation process or the like. Also, in certain exemplary cases, the communication interface (s) 208 may include an SPS receiver 218 capable of capturing SPS signals 152, for example, in support of one or more signal-based positioning capabilities. . ≪ / RTI >

In accordance with certain exemplary implementations, the communication interface (s) 208 and / or other resources within the network (s) 120 may be, for example, a wireless wide area network (WWAN), a wireless local area network Wireless personal area networks (WPANs), and the like. The terms "network" and "system" may be used interchangeably herein. The WWAN may be a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network, a single- Network, and the like. A CDMA network may implement one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such as cdma2000, wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA), as well as some radio technologies. Here, cdma2000 may include techniques implemented in accordance with IS-95, IS-2000, and IS-856 standards. The TDMA network may implement Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. GSM and W-CDMA are described in documents from a consortium named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). Cdma2000 is described in documents from a consortium named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. For example, a WLAN may include an IEEE 802.11x network, and a WPAN may include a Bluetooth network, IEEE 802.15x. Wireless communication networks may include so-called next generation technologies (e.g., "4G") such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE, WiMAX, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) In addition, communication interface (s) 208 and / or communication interface (s) 308 may additionally provide infrared-based communications with one or more other devices.

SPS receiver 218 may, for example, represent any type of receiver capable of receiving SPS signals from positioning satellites and processing the signals to provide one or more position estimates for the mobile device. For example, the SPS receiver 218 may be configured to receive signals from, for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS), a GLONASS system, a compass system, a Galileo system, an IRNSS system, a GNSS system, , And / or any other existing or future SPS system including other satellite navigation systems, including, but not limited to, other systems using Base Station Enhancement Systems (GBAS), and / or other satellite navigation systems. In some implementations, one or more of the processes or techniques described herein may be implemented in whole or in part (e.g., one or more of the processing units 202 and / or the SPS 210) within the SPS receiver 218 or similar structure Other processing units within the receiver 218, etc., or some combination thereof). It should be appreciated that the architecture illustrated for computing platform 200 within mobile device 104 represents one possible example of an architecture that may be used in an implementation. Other architectures can be used alternatively. It should also be understood that some or all of the various devices, processes, or articles of manufacture described herein may be implemented using any combination of software and hardware and / or firmware, and so on.

(S) 210 / transmitter (s) 212 to capture and process signals from the network (s) 120 and / or the transmission devices 140 In addition to the SPS receiver 218 for capturing the mobile device 104, the mobile device 104 may include one or more environmental sensors (e.g., one or more magnetometers, one or more temperature sensors, one or more microphones, one or more barometers, One or more sensors 216 that may represent one or more inertial sensors (e.g., one or more optical sensors, one or more cameras, etc.) and / or one or more inertial sensors (e.g., one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, . ≪ / RTI > In certain implementations, an error condition, such as an outlier, may be detected based at least in part upon an evaluation of the one or more sensor signals received at the current location with other information such as recent position fix or positioning aiding data. For example, an initial position (e.g., coarse position) or a recent SPS position fix may include one or more readings derived from one or more environments and / or one or more signals generated by one or more inertial sensors, It can be evaluated for consistency with inferences. Thus, for example, in certain embodiments, the initial position or possibly the latest / previous SPS position fix may be derived from one or more sensor signals, one or more readings, signals or inferences (e.g., Second positioning parameters), an error condition may be assumed to exist. In response to the detection of an error condition, in certain aspects, the indication of uncertainty regarding one or more of the positioning parameters, position fix, and / or other similar position information may be effected in some manner. In another particular aspect, in response to detecting an error condition in some or all of the information obtained from the acquisition of the SPS signals at the SPS receiver 218, a method for attempting to reacquire the SPS signals at the SPS receiver 218 The process may be restarted or otherwise initiated or operably affected in some manner. Here, for example, one or more processes associated with the wireless signal-based positioning capability may be restarted and / or affected in some other manner.

In certain cases it can be assumed, for example, that there is at least a high possibility that the ancillary data depending on when obtaining the error position fix is inaccurate or erroneous. Thus, in another aspect, the reacquisition of SPS signals (e.g., following detection of an error condition as discussed above) may be performed without at least some, if not all, of the ancillary data depending on the initial computation of the position fix . For example, in the presence of certain detected error conditions, there can be a significant likelihood that the ancillary data, such as the estimation of the SPS time and / or the initial position, will be erroneous. Thus, some or all of these particular assistance data may be discarded or ignored. Other data that may be completely or partially discarded or ignored when detecting an error condition may include, for example, clock frequency, bias estimate, GNSS measurements, cosmic steering and / or cosmic ray directions. In certain instances, other ancillary data, such as ephemeris and / or recursion, can be assumed to be highly reliable. Thus, ephemeris and / or inverse data may be used to obtain a subsequent position fix.

In certain exemplary embodiments, the error condition is based at least in part on one or more positioning parameters that may be based, at least in part, on one or more captured SPS signals and one or more signals obtained from one or more onboard sensors And may be detected from a comparison of one or more other positioning parameters. For example, a pseudorange rate (PRR) obtained from acquisition of the SPS signal at the mobile device and / or an estimated rate may be compared to an estimated rate measurement of the mobile device as determined from the processing inertial sensor signals, have. Thus, for example, if there is a significant divergence between the estimated velocity and the corresponding estimated velocity measurement, there may be a significant likelihood that there may be an error in the SPS position fix and / or other similar positioning information . In certain exemplary implementations, as previously mentioned, one or more thresholds may be considered in the detection of various types of errors and / or error conditions. It should be appreciated that these thresholds may be predetermined and / or dynamically determined according to the implemented design. Also, as noted previously, in certain instances, one or more indications of uncertainty with respect to one or more positioning parameters and / or one or more indications of position uncertainty with respect to mobile device 104 may be detected errors and / And may be effected based at least in part on the absence of the detected error. In certain exemplary implementations, the sensor high-reliability-static versus-redundancy GNSS high-speed offset detection may be an effective way to detect errors.

It can be appreciated that there may be a trade-off between the extension or conservation of electrical power and the correction of error conditions, if the use of full sky scans can sometimes overload the mobile device's power (e.g., battery, etc.) have. Thus, in certain instances, criteria for testing the suitability of the calculated position fix and / or other similar positioning information may be set or adjusted according to the need to preserve the electric power of the mobile device.

As further illustrated in FIG. 2, the mobile device 104 may further include, for example, one or more input / output units 214. The input / output units 214 may receive inputs from a user of the mobile device 104 and / or one or more other devices and / or output to a user of the mobile device 104 and / May represent one or more devices or other similar mechanisms that may be used to provide the < RTI ID = 0.0 > Thus, for example, the input / output units 214 may include various buttons, switches, touch pads, trackballs, joysticks, touch screens, microphones, cameras, Lt; / RTI > In certain instances, the input / output units 214 may include various devices that may be used in generating the visual output, audible output, and / or tactile output for the user. In one exemplary implementation, the input / output units 214 may include a display capable of rendering some or all of the displayable image data, etc., with respect to positioning fixes, wireless signal-based positioning capabilities, some aspects of the environment 100, . ≪ / RTI >

As illustrated, mobile device 104 may include one or more connections (s) 206 (e.g., one or more conductors, one or more conductive paths, one or more fibers, one or more busses, One or more processing units 202 for performing data processing (e.g., in accordance with the techniques provided herein) coupled to the memory 204 via a processor (e.g., a processor, etc.). The processing unit (s) 202 and / or instructions 272 may include, for example, instructions 272; Device 110; One or more first positioning parameters (e.g., based at least in part on one or more wireless positioning signals); One or more second positioning parameters 222 (e.g., based at least in part on one or more signals generated by one or more sensors or obtained from one or more sensors); One or more indications 224 of uncertainty (e.g., associated with one or more first or second positioning parameters); One or more estimated positions (226); One or more indications 228 of position uncertainty (e.g., associated with one or more estimated positions and / or other positioning information); Wireless signal-based positioning capability 230; A difference value 232 (based at least in part on a comparison of at least a first positioning parameter and a second positioning parameter); One or more thresholds (234); One or more (estimated) pseudoranges 236; One or more estimated velocities 238; One or more estimated velocity measurements 240 (e.g., inferred from one or more sensor signals); Motion mode 242; One or more inferences 244 (e.g., associated with an initial position and / or position fix, etc.); (E. G., Possibly associated with the absence of one or more errors and / or errors); Comparison value 248; Auxiliary data 250; Full sky scan 252 and / or other similar processes / capabilities; One or more (estimated) pseudorange rates 254 (e.g., based at least in part on one or more wireless positioning signals); May provide, or otherwise be associated with, one or more signals that may, from time to time, be stored in the memory 204, such as, for example, or some combination thereof.

Turning now to FIG. 3, which is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process 300 that may be implemented in computing platform 200 of mobile device 104, according to an exemplary implementation.

In exemplary block 302, the first positioning parameter may be determined based at least in part on a wireless positioning signal received by the mobile device. For example, in certain implementations, one or more wireless positioning signals may be captured from one or more terrestrial-based transmission devices and / or one or more SPS. As used herein, the term "first positioning parameter" may be based, at least in part, on one or more wireless positioning signals, represented by one or more electrical signals, Based positioning capability and / or any other similar positioning signals. Thus, by way of some non-limiting examples, the first positioning parameter may be calculated based on the estimated velocity, the estimated pseudorange rate, the estimated pseudorange, the estimated elevation / altitude, the specific time, the estimated heading, All or the like, or some combination thereof.

In exemplary block 304, the second positioning parameter may be determined based at least in part on one or more signals generated by the one or more sensors of the mobile device. For example, in certain implementations, one or more signals may be generated by one or more inertial sensors mounted on a mobile device and / or one or more environmental sensors mounted on a mobile device and / . As used herein, the term "second positioning parameter" may be based, at least in part, on one or more signals from one or more sensors, represented by one or more electrical signals, May be intended to indicate any information that may be used in comparison with one positioning parameters and / or otherwise considered for one or more first positioning parameters. Thus, by way of some non-limiting examples, the second positioning parameter may be used to estimate an estimated velocity (e.g., based on acceleration / deceleration detected over time, etc.), one or more detection (E.g., day or night based on sensed ambient light conditions, subsequent requested user input, etc.), (e.g., based on measured elevation / altitude) Some or all of the position coordinates (e.g., based on predicted navigation, subsequent requested user inputs, etc.), or some combination thereof, based on the estimated heading (e.g., based on magnetometers, compass capabilities, etc.) This can be related.

In exemplary block 306, an indication of at least uncertainty with respect to the first positioning parameter may be effected in some manner based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter. For example, the indication of uncertainty with respect to at least the first positioning parameter (if necessary) may be determined based on the absence or presence of detected error conditions, possible errors, failed threshold tests, etc., and / May be affected to indicate higher or lower levels of uncertainty. In certain embodiments, at the exemplary block 306, the implicit assumption is that the particular second positioning parameter corresponding to the sensor is sufficient for the first positioning parameter to affect the indication of at least uncertainty with respect to the first positioning parameter It can be considered to be reliable. Thus, for example, in certain embodiments, rather than rely on such implicit assumptions, one or more second positioning parameters may be sufficiently reliable to be used in influencing the indication of uncertainty with respect to the first positioning parameter Additional racks may be performed to verify or otherwise verify that it can be considered. For example, the second positioning parameter may be compared with a corresponding reliability threshold. For example, the second positioning parameter may be deemed to be largely reliable according to the source sensor (s), the number of sample measurements obtained, the length of time the sample measurements were acquired, and so on.

In certain cases, at block 308, the wireless signal-based positioning capability may be affected based at least in part on the indication of the uncertainty and / or the indication of the position uncertainty. Here, for example, the radio signal-based positioning capability may be affected in an operational manner in some manner by restarting and / or otherwise in some way based at least in part on this indication of such indication and / or position uncertainty of uncertainty. In certain exemplary implementations, the wireless signal-based positioning capability may be determined to be in an error state and / or having one or more error conditions, based at least in part on an indication of an uncertainty and / or an indication of a position uncertainty have. Thus, for example, in response to certain error conditions, the mobile device 104 may initiate a specific error recovery mechanism. For example, the error recovery mechanism may affect some or all of the available ancillary data, etc., and / or remove it, and / or possibly ignore or affect some or all of the new incoming assistance data, etc. (For example, through the assumption that some or all of these data may be related to error conditions in some way). It should be noted that error conditions, etc., may be declared at various times for reasons unknown at times and possibly even uncertain. For example, an error condition or the like may occur as appropriate based on initial position, initial time, ancillary data, data related to the clock frequency, and in some implementations, to recover from such an error condition, Delete or ignore certain data or otherwise affect it and restart one or more processes / capabilities.

In certain instances, at block 310, the difference value may be determined based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter, and the indication of the uncertainty may be determined based at least in part on the comparison of the difference value and the threshold value It can be affected. Thus, for example, in certain instances, an error condition or other possible error may be detected based at least in part on whether a particular threshold test is satisfied.

Turning next to FIG. 4, which is a flow diagram illustrating another exemplary process 400 that may be implemented in computing platform 200 of mobile device 104, according to an exemplary implementation. In exemplary block 402, one or more inferences can be calculated from one or more inertial sensors and / or one or more signals generated by one or more environmental sensors. Here, for example, one or more second positioning parameters may be determined or otherwise inferred.

In exemplary block 404, the error condition may be detected in response to a comparison of the calculated one or more inferences with the initial position and / or one or more other position fixes. Here, for example, one or more error conditions may be determined by comparing one or more first positioning parameters associated with it to one or more second positioning parameters, such as calculated / deduced in block 402, / RTI > and / or one or more position fixes. In certain exemplary implementations, the error condition may be detected at block 404 based on one or more threshold tests or the like.

In exemplary block 406, in response to the detection of one or more error conditions, one or more processes may, for example, acquire a new position fix, independently of the initial position and / or some previous position fix, And / or may be affected in other ways. Here, for example, the wireless signal-based positioning capability and / or other similar positioning process (s) may be restarted in some manner and / or affect the entire sky scan and / or other similar wireless positioning signal search technique Gt; < / RTI >

In certain exemplary implementations, affecting the process at the mobile device may include restarting the process, for example, in an attempt to obtain position fixes independent of the initial position. In certain other exemplary limitations, affecting the process at the mobile device may include affecting at least a portion of the assistance data used by the process to obtain the position fix. Here, for example, a portion of the ancillary data may be ignored, modified, or possibly removed. In certain exemplary implementations, affecting at least a portion of the ancillary data used by the process to obtain the position fix may further comprise determining that certain ancillary data may have contributed to the error condition. For example, certain ancillary data may be considered out-of-date and / or having error information that may have contributed to the error condition (e.g., based on differences for expected values, thresholds, etc.) . In response to a determination that certain ancillary data may have contributed to the error condition, the mobile device may, for example, determine that the process is in the process of disregarding some or all of the ancillary ancillary data, And may allow to identify some or all of the suspicious aiding data for one or more other computing devices (e.g., corresponding to providers of such ancillary data, etc.) and / or to identify a portion of the suspicious aiding data.

The techniques provided herein may be implemented to allow a variety of different first and second positioning parameters and / or corresponding thresholds to be considered. For example, as previously described, parameters associated with velocity, heading, position coordinates, elevation / elevation elevation, etc. may be compared or otherwise considered to determine whether certain positioning information is generally reliable . For example, as previously mentioned, if the velocity or heading for position coordinates or altitude / sea level height based on one or more sensors appears to be in conflict with similar information based on one or more wireless positioning signals, Can exist.

Although the examples presented above tend to relate to individual parameters and / or other similar measurements, however, in certain embodiments, a plurality of parameters and / or other similar measurements may be used to detect and / To influence the indication of uncertainty with respect to the above positioning parameters and / or to influence the indication of uncertainty with respect to the position parameter with respect to the mobile device, possibly to reduce false positives / negatives, For example, can be acquired for a period of time, and so on.

In certain additional embodiments, in response to certain conditions or results, based on the techniques herein, a mobile device may interact with one or more other devices and / or perform operations on a mobile device or on a mobile device Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > and / or < / RTI > one or more user inputs that may be used to modify or otherwise affect one or more processes. For example, in response to an error condition, an attempt to acquire specific assistance data may be initiated. For example, in response to an error condition, a particular user input may assist in resolving some or all of the error conditions, or may be useful to assist in resolving some or all of the error conditions, User input may be requested.

The methods described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the particular features and / or applications according to the examples. For example, these methods may be implemented in conjunction with software, hardware, firmware, and / or a combination of hardware and firmware. In a hardware implementation, for example, the processing units may be implemented as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices May be implemented within a processor, a microprocessor, a microprocessor, a microprocessor, a gate array (FPGA), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other device units designed to perform the functions described herein, .

In the foregoing detailed description, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods and apparatuses known to those skilled in the art have not been described in detail in order not to obscure the claimed subject matter.

Some portions of the foregoing detailed description have been presented through algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on binary digital electronic signals stored in the memory of a particular device or special purpose computing device or platform. In the context of this particular specification, the term specific device, etc., includes a general purpose computer if it is programmed to perform certain functions in accordance with instructions from the program software. Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples of techniques that are used by signal processing or other persons skilled in the relevant arts to convey their work to other persons skilled in the art. An algorithm is generally considered herein to be a consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing resulting in a desired result. In such a situation, operations or processes involve physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically, though not necessarily, such quantities may take the form of electrical or magnetic signals that may be stored, transmitted, combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated as electronic signals representing the information. It has proven convenient sometimes to refer to these signals as bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numbers, information, etc., for reasons of common usage. However, it should be understood that all of these or similar terms will be associated with the appropriate physical quantity, and are merely convenient labels. Computing, computing, determining, establishing, generating, acquiring, accessing, identifying, analyzing, analyzing, etc., all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, It is understood that discussions utilizing terms such as setting, applying, affecting, associating, etc. may refer to operations or processes of a special purpose device, such as a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device typically includes one or more processors, memories, registers or other information storage devices, transmission devices, or special purpose computers or similar special purpose electronic computing devices Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > physical < / RTI > electronic or magnetic quantities within the display devices of the display device. In the context of this particular patent application, the term "special device" may include a general purpose computer as it is programmed to perform specific functions in accordance with instructions from the program software.

The terms "and" and / or "and / or" as used herein may also include various meanings that are expected to depend, at least in part, on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, "or" when used to relate a list such as A, B, or C, as used herein in the nested sense, A, B and C, as well as A, B Or " C ". Additionally, the term "one or more " as used herein may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular, or may include a plurality of features, structures or characteristics May be used to describe some other combinations. It should be noted, however, that this is only an illustrative example and that the object of the claimed invention is not limited to this example.

While there have been shown and described what are presently considered to be exemplary features, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted, without departing from the claimed subject matter. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of the claimed subject matter without departing from the central concept set forth herein.

Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter is not limited to the specific examples disclosed, but that the claimed subject matter may also include all aspects falling within the scope of the appended claims, and equivalents thereof.

Claims (80)

As a method,
On mobile devices:
Determining a first positioning parameter based at least in part on a wireless positioning signal received by the mobile device;
Determining a second positioning parameter based at least in part on a signal generated by the sensor of the mobile device; And
Effecting an indication of at least an uncertainty regarding the first positioning parameter based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter. The method according to claim 1,
Estimating, on the mobile device, a position of the mobile device based at least in part on the first positioning parameter; And
Further comprising: influencing an indication of position uncertainty with respect to the estimated position of the mobile device based at least in part on an indication of the uncertainty. 3. The method of claim 2,
Based positioning capability based on at least one of an indication of the uncertainty or an indication of the position uncertainty on the mobile device. The method according to claim 1,
The steps affecting the indication of the uncertainty may include:
Determining a difference value based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter; And
And influencing an indication of the uncertainty based at least in part on a comparison of the difference value and the threshold value. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first positioning parameter is based at least in part on an estimated pseudo range from a transmitter of the wireless positioning signal to the mobile device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first positioning parameter comprises an estimated speed of the mobile device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the second positioning parameter is based at least in part on the estimated speed measurement of the mobile device. The method according to claim 1,
On the mobile device,
Further comprising determining a motion mode of the mobile device; And
And wherein the second positioning parameter is based at least in part on the motion mode of the mobile device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the sensor comprises at least one of an inertial sensor or an environmental sensor. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the wireless positioning signal comprises a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) signal. An apparatus for use in a mobile device,
Means for determining a first positioning parameter based at least in part on a wireless positioning signal received by the mobile device;
Means for determining a second positioning parameter based at least in part on a signal generated by a sensor of the mobile device; And
And means for influencing an indication of at least an uncertainty with respect to the first positioning parameter based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter. 12. The method of claim 11,
Means for estimating a position of the mobile device based at least in part on the first positioning parameter; And
And means for influencing an indication of position uncertainty with respect to the estimated position of the mobile device based at least in part on an indication of the uncertainty. 13. The method of claim 12,
An indication of said uncertainty; Based positioning capability based on at least one of an indication of the position uncertainty or an indication of the position uncertainty. 12. The method of claim 11,
Means for determining a difference value based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter; And
And means for effecting an indication of the uncertainty based at least in part on a comparison of the difference value and the threshold value. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the positioning parameter is based at least in part on an estimated pseudo range from a transmitter of the wireless positioning signal to the mobile device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first positioning parameter comprises an estimated speed of the mobile device. The method according to claim 1,
And wherein the second positioning parameter is based at least in part on the estimated speed measurement of the mobile device. 12. The method of claim 11,
Further comprising: means for determining a motion mode of the mobile device; And
And wherein the second positioning parameter is based at least in part on the motion mode of the mobile device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the sensor comprises at least one of an inertial sensor or an environmental sensor. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the wireless positioning signal comprises a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) signal. As a mobile device:
Communication interface;
sensor; And
Determine a first positioning parameter based at least in part on a wireless positioning signal received by the communication interface;
Determine a second positioning parameter based at least in part on a signal generated by the sensor; And
And at least one processing unit for effecting an indication of at least an uncertainty with respect to the first positioning parameter based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the one or more processing units further comprise:
Estimate a position of the mobile device based at least in part on the first positioning parameter; And
And affects an indication of position uncertainty with respect to the estimated position of the mobile device based at least in part on an indication of the uncertainty. 23. The method of claim 22,
Wherein the one or more processing units further comprise:
Based positioning capability based on at least one of an indication of the uncertainty or an indication of the position uncertainty. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the one or more processing units further comprise:
Determine a difference value based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter; And
And affects the indication of the uncertainty based at least in part on the comparison of the difference value and the threshold value. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the positioning parameter is based at least in part on an estimated pseudo range from a transmitter of the wireless positioning signal to the mobile device. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the first positioning parameter comprises an estimated speed of the mobile device. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the second positioning parameter is based at least in part on the estimated speed measurement of the mobile device. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the one or more processing units further comprise:
Determine a motion mode of the mobile device; And
And wherein the second positioning parameter is based at least in part on the motion mode of the mobile device. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the sensor comprises at least one of an inertial sensor or an environmental sensor. 22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the wireless positioning signal comprises a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) signal. 20. An article comprising a non-volatile computer readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon,
The instructions include:
Determine a first positioning parameter based at least in part on a wireless positioning signal received by the mobile device;
Determine a second positioning parameter based at least in part on the signal generated by the sensor of the mobile device; And
Wherein the at least one processing unit is executable by the one or more processing units of the mobile device to effect an indication of at least an uncertainty with respect to the first positioning parameter based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter. 32. The method of claim 31,
The computer-executable instructions further comprise:
Estimate a position of the mobile device based at least in part on the first positioning parameter; And
Executable by the one or more processing units to influence an indication of position uncertainty with respect to the estimated position of the mobile device based at least in part on an indication of the uncertainty. 33. The method of claim 32,
Wherein the computer executable instructions are further executable by the one or more processing units to effect wireless signal-based positioning capability based on at least one of the indication of the uncertainty or the indication of the position uncertainty. 32. The method of claim 31,
The computer-executable instructions further comprise:
Determine a difference value based at least in part on the first positioning parameter and the second positioning parameter; And
And to effect an indication of the uncertainty based at least in part on a comparison of the difference value and the threshold value. 32. The method of claim 31,
Wherein the positioning parameter is based at least in part on an estimated pseudo range from a transmitter of the wireless positioning signal to the mobile device. 32. The method of claim 31,
Wherein the first positioning parameter comprises an estimated speed of the mobile device. 32. The method of claim 31,
And wherein the second positioning parameter is based at least in part on the estimated speed measurement of the mobile device. 32. The method of claim 31,
The computer-executable instructions further comprising:
Determine a motion mode of the mobile device; And
And wherein the second positioning parameter is based at least in part on the motion mode of the mobile device. 32. The method of claim 31,
Wherein the sensor comprises at least one of an inertial sensor or an environmental sensor. 32. The method of claim 31,
Wherein the wireless positioning signal comprises a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) signal. As a method,
On mobile devices:
Calculating one or more inferences from signals generated by one or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors;
Detecting an error condition in response to the comparison of the calculated at least one inference with an inertial position or position fix; And
In response to the detection of the error condition, affecting a process at the mobile device used to obtain position fixes. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein affecting the process at the mobile device comprises:
Further comprising restarting the process to obtain the position fix independent of the initial position. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein affecting the process at the mobile device comprises:
Further comprising the step of influencing at least a portion of the assistance data used by the process to obtain the position fix. 44. The method of claim 43,
Wherein affecting at least a portion of ancillary data used by the process to obtain the position fix comprises:
Determining that particular assistance data has contributed to the error condition; And
Using the process to ignore the specific assistance data;
Affecting the particular assistance data prior to use by the process; or
And identifying the particular assistance data for the one or more computing devices. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein the initial position is obtained from the assistance data. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein the step of influencing the process used to obtain the position fix comprises:
Further comprising obtaining the position fix based at least in part on acquisition of a plurality of SPS signals at the mobile device. 47. The method of claim 46,
Wherein acquiring the position fix further comprises obtaining the position fix using ephemeris and / or inverse information. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein influencing the process at the mobile device used to obtain the position comprises:
Further comprising initiating a full sky scan to obtain one or more satellite positioning system (SPS) signals. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein detecting the error condition comprises:
Further comprising comparing the pseudo range rate of the acquired Satellite Positioning System (SPS) signal to the estimated speed from processing of the signal generated by the inertial sensor. 42. The method of claim 41,
Wherein detecting the error condition further comprises comparing an inference calculated from one or more signals from the environmental sensor to the inertial position or position fix. An apparatus for use in a mobile device,
Means for calculating one or more inferences from signals generated by one or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors;
Means for detecting an error condition in response to comparing the calculated at least one inference with an inertial position or position fix; And
And means for affecting a process at the mobile device used to obtain position fix, in response to detecting the error condition. 52. The method of claim 51,
And means for restarting the process to obtain the position fix independent of the initial position. 52. The method of claim 51,
And means for affecting at least a portion of the assistance data used by the process to obtain the position fix in response to the detection of the error condition. 54. The method of claim 53,
Means for determining that particular assistance data contributed to the error condition; And
Means for ignoring the specific assistance data by the process;
Means for influencing the particular assistance data prior to use by the process; or
And means for identifying the particular assistance data for the one or more computing devices. 52. The method of claim 51,
Wherein the initial position is obtained from ancillary data. 52. The method of claim 51,
And means for obtaining the position fix based at least in part on acquisition of a plurality of SPS signals at the mobile device. 57. The method of claim 56,
And means for obtaining the position fix using ephemeris and / or regression information. 52. The method of claim 51,
Further comprising means for initiating a full sky scan to obtain one or more satellite positioning system (SPS) signals. 52. The method of claim 51,
Means for comparing the pseudo range rate of the acquired Satellite Positioning System (SPS) signal with a speed estimated from processing the signal generated by the inertial sensor. 52. The method of claim 51,
And means for comparing the inferences calculated from the one or more signals from the environmental sensor to the inertial position or position fix. As a mobile device,
One or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors; And
Calculate one or more inferences from signals generated by the one or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors;
Detecting an error condition in response to the comparison of the calculated at least one reasoning with an inertial position or position fix; And
And in response to detecting the error condition, one or more processing units affecting a process at the mobile device used to obtain position fixes. 62. The method of claim 61,
Wherein the one or more processing units further comprise:
And in response to the detection of the error condition, restarting the process to obtain the position fix independent of the initial position. 62. The method of claim 61,
Wherein the one or more processing units further comprise:
And affects at least a portion of the assistance data used by the process to obtain the position fix in response to the detection of the error condition. 64. The method of claim 63,
Wherein the one or more processing units further comprise:
Determine that particular assistance data contributed to the error condition;
Using said process to ignore said specific assistance data;
Affecting the particular assistance data prior to use by the process; or
And initiating identification of the particular assistance data for the one or more computing devices. 62. The method of claim 61,
Wherein the initial position is obtained from the assistance data. 62. The method of claim 61,
Further comprising a communication interface,
Wherein the one or more processing units further obtain the position fix based at least in part on acquisition of a plurality of SPS signals using the communication interface. 67. The method of claim 66,
Wherein the one or more processing units further obtain the position fix using ephemeris and / or regression information. 62. The method of claim 61,
Wherein the one or more processing units further initiate a full sky scan to acquire one or more satellite positioning system (SPS) signals. 62. The method of claim 61,
Wherein the one or more processing units compare the pseudo range rate of the further acquired SPS signal with the estimated speed from processing of the signal generated by the inertial sensor. 62. The method of claim 61,
Wherein the one or more processing units further compare a reasoning calculated from one or more signals from the environmental sensor to the inertial position or position fix. An article comprising a non-transient computer readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon,
The instructions include:
Calculate one or more inferences from signals generated by one or more inertial sensors or environmental sensors on the mobile device;
Detecting an error condition in response to the comparison of the calculated at least one reasoning with an inertial position or position fix; And
In response to detecting the error condition, executable by one or more units of the mobile device to effect a process at the mobile device used to obtain position fixes. 72. The method of claim 71,
Said executable instructions further comprising:
And to restart the process to obtain the position fix independent of the initial position in response to the detection of the error condition. 72. The method of claim 71,
The computer-executable instructions further comprise:
Executable by the one or more processing units to affect at least a portion of the assistance data used by the process to obtain the position fix in response to the detection of the error condition. 77. The method of claim 73,
The computer-executable instructions further comprise:
Determine that particular assistance data contributed to the error condition; And
Using said process to ignore said specific assistance data;
Affecting the particular assistance data prior to use by the process; or
And initiating identification of the particular assistance data for the one or more computing devices. 72. The method of claim 71,
Wherein the initial position is obtained from the assistance data. 72. The method of claim 71,
The computer-executable instructions further comprise:
Wherein the mobile device is further executable by the one or more processing units to obtain the position fix based at least in part upon acquisition of a plurality of SPS signals. 80. The method of claim 76,
The computer-executable instructions further comprise:
Executable by the one or more processing units to obtain the position fix using ephemeris and / or regression information. 72. The method of claim 71,
The computer-executable instructions further comprise:
Executable by the one or more processing units to initiate a full sky scan to obtain one or more satellite positioning system (SPS) signals. 72. The method of claim 71,
The computer-executable instructions further comprise:
And to compare the pseudo range rate of the acquired Satellite Positioning System (SPS) signal with the estimated rate from processing of the signal generated by the inertial sensor. 72. The method of claim 71,
The computer-executable instructions further comprise:
Wherein the at least one processing unit is further executable by the one or more processing units to compare the reasoning computed from the one or more signals from the environmental sensor to the inertial position or position fix.

Images